ScottishPower Renewables has announced a second boost for the renewable energy industry in East Anglia. The day after the company officially submitted plans for the East Anglia THREE project, a thirty-year deal has been agreed with the Port of Lowestoft to act as a construction and operations hub for the East Anglia ONE offshore windfarm.

Following discussions with Associated British Ports, ScottishPower Renewables will utilise the Port of Lowestoft as its construction management base for East Anglia ONE, and also the main Operations and Maintenance hub for the anticipated 30 year lifespan of the windfarm. The agreement will be worth approximately £25 million over the lifetime of the project.

Initial investment in the port will be used to establish the new operations facility and to carry out upgrades and modifications to the port and surrounding harbour area. Approximately 100 people will be employed full-time at the port when East Anglia ONE is completed, with thousands of contractors and supply chain operators working from the site every year and contributing substantially to the local economy.

This follows on from ScottishPower Renewables’ announcement on Wednesday that plans for the East Anglia THREE offshore windfarm had been officially submitted to the Planning Directorate. The development will require up to 172 wind turbines and covers an area of 305km2 in the southern North Sea. Once completed, East Anglia THREE could power the annual electricity demands of more than 750,000 homes. If approved, it is anticipated that onshore construction could begin in 2021, with offshore work starting in 2022 and first power generation achieved in 2023.

Jonathan Cole, Managing Director of Offshore Wind at ScottishPower Renewables, said: “Today’s announcement will help to make the East Anglia region the leading destination for investment and job creation in the UK’s Offshore Wind Power industry.

“A new vision document published this week highlighted the huge potential of offshore wind power to contribute sustainable, cost-effective electricity for the UK, as well as helping the economy to grow. What happens in East Anglia will be fundamentally important in delivering this vision. Off the coast of Norfolk and Suffolk billions of pounds of investments are being made, and tens of thousands of job opportunities are being created.

“In Lowestoft, we will manage construction activities and operate and maintain our East Anglia ONE project for at least the next three decades. This will support highly skilled, long-term jobs, both directly and across our supply chain. Every year during the construction phase and operations phase of the project, millions of pounds will be injected in to the local economy.

“Our East Anglia THREE planning submission also highlights our continued commitment to the region, and the tremendous potential in the East of England to develop further large offshore wind projects. We have helped to drive costs down in the industry, which increases the prospects of these major infrastructure projects being delivered. We hope for a successful outcome to our application, and we look forward to continue growing the offshore wind industry in East Anglia.”

ABP Director Andrew Harston said: “ABP’s Port of Lowestoft already supports around 1,200 jobs and contributes around £80 million to the economy each year. This significant investment by ScottishPower Renewables, with its potential to create long-term, skilled jobs and boost the economy, is another example of how the port can make a valuable contribution to the prosperity of the town and its hinterland.”

The programme of work will begin in 2016, and modifications will include dredging and construction of new pontoon facilities, site preparation and construction of onshore buildings including offices, warehouses, workshops and storage areas.

A new state-of-the-art operations and maintenance control building will be constructed between 2018 and 2020.

About East Anglia ONE:

East Anglia ONE will see around 102 wind turbines installed in the southern North Sea, approx. 26 miles off the coast. The overall investment will be in the region of £2 billion, and the project is planned to meet the annual electricity demands of around 500,000 homes.

Construction is planned to commence in 2017, with the first turbines installed by 2019, and hopes that the project will be fully operational during 2020.

An offshore substation platform and its foundation to collect the electricity from the turbines and transform it to a form suitable for transfer to shore.

Two seabed export cables, each around 73 km in length, to transfer the electricity to shore.

A landfall site with onshore transition pits to connect the offshore and onshore cables.

Up to six onshore underground cables, each of around 37 km in length, to transfer the electricity from landfall to an onshore converter station.

Up to eight cable ducts for two future East Anglia projects to connect into Bramford Substation. This could limit the impact of future construction operations as cables for these future projects would be pulled through the pre-laid ducts.

An onshore substation adjacent to the existing substation at Bramford, Suffolk, to connect the offshore windfarm to the National Grid.

About East Anglia THREE:

East Anglia THREE was initially a 50/50 joint venture between ScottishPower Renewables and Vattenfall. In August 2015 ScottishPower Renewables and Vattenfall agreed to independently take forward offshore windfarm projects within the ‘East Anglia Zone’. This followed-on from industry-wide changes agreed with The Crown Estate, whereby ‘zone development agreements’ were replaced with project specific agreements.

ScottishPower Renewables is developing projects in the southern area of the zone, which includes East Anglia THREE, with Vattenfall developing projects in the northern section of the zone. The overall capacity remains at up to 7.2 gigawatts (GW) of potential, with each developer working on proposals for around half of the overall capacity.

The full East Anglia THREE project will include:

Offshore wind turbines and foundations, up to 172 wind turbines to provide an installed capacity of 1,200MW

Up to 6 offshore electrical platforms and their foundations to collect the electricity from the turbines and transform it to a form suitable for transfer to shore.

Up to 4 seabed export cables, totalling around 664km in length, to transfer the electricity to shore.

A landfall site with onshore transition pits to connect the offshore and onshore cables.

Up to twelve onshore underground cables, each of around 37km in length, using the consented East Anglia ONE cable route to transfer the electricity from landfall to an onshore converter station/substation at Bramford to connect to the National Grid.